Governor's security screening for his 'listening tour' locks one surprised parent out

La'Tasha Reed Dullivan wanted to attend the governor's education
listening tour when he arrived at her son's charter school last week.
But, even though she has passed numerous state security screenings and
is authorized to work with disabled children and their families, she was
rejected.

The Florida Department of Law Enforcement had determined Dullivan was a security risk.

“Because of confidentiality, we can’t disclose why an individual person
was denied except to say each person is evaluated on a case by case
basis,’’ said Gretl Plessinger, FDLE spokeswoman. She would not clarify
what is deemed a security risk.

Since
1993, she has passed routine Level 2 background checks as a child care
worker and, since 2005, as a Medicaid provider authorized to screen
young children and recommend services for the Department of Children and
Families’ Early Steps program. Those background checks include
fingerprinting, national and state criminal history checks, driver
records and a search of her arrest record.

To be selected as one
of the parents to talk to the governor, she was asked to fill out a form
with her driver’s license, social security number and date of birth.
Dullivan said she “didn’t think twice about it” because she has passed
more stringent reviews routinely.

But when the principal at her
Governor’s Academy Charter School in Tallahassee informed her that she
had been rejected and couldn’t attend, Dullivan got worried.

“I
thought someone stole my identity or something,’’ said Dullivan, who s
left DCF in January and now trains Medicaid providers for the University
of South Florida in Tallahassee.

On Saturday, she ran a check on
herself through FDLE’s criminal history database. The report read:
“FDLE found NO Florida criminal history based on the information
provided.’’

"I assumed there were other things," Dullivan
concluded. Maybe it was because she is a registered Democrat. Maybe it
was because the room was full. “I am not an unsafe person,” she told the
Herald/Times.

Scott spokeswoman Melissa Sellers blamed FDLE for
rejecting Dullivan and denied they were screening parents because of
their political affiliation. They have invited Dullivan to meet with the
governor one-on-one on Oct. 2, she said.

“We are working the FDLE
to balance their security concerns with the governor’s desire to hear
from as many Floridians as possible,’’ she said. “We have worked with
the principal to reach out to this parent.”

FDLE won’t release
what criteria it uses to determine which parents are deemed a security
risk for meeting the governor. Plessinger said that it has been a
long-standing practice for FDLE to screen “anyone who meets with the
governor whether its at his office, at the mansion, or in a public
meeting.”

But the agency won’t elaborate on when it decides which meetings to screen and which to allow to occur spontaneously.

Dullivan said she has nothing against the governor.

“I
just wanted to hear what’s happening to my child’s education so that I
am prepared,’’ she said. “Not that I had a gripe -- I just wanted to
listen -- but I didn’t get that far.”